SNL alum Kyle Mooney previously made his debut as a feature screenwriter with the indie dramedy Brigsby Bear, and now he’s making the leap to the director’s chair with the A24 pic Y2K. Although the film is uneven, the comedic highs are enough to compensate for the somewhat generic nostalgia-bait storytelling.
Y2K tells the story of a group of teenagers who go to a wild party on the eve of the new millennium, only for things to get even wilder when the world threatens to end. It’s an ingenious concept, and while it takes a bit of time for the movie to hit its stride, Mooney and Evan Winter’s script eventually becomes an entertaining, wacky adventure.
The first half of the film is incredibly annoying. It’s the type of cringe comedy that tries to get laughs by saying, “Look at how stupid we were 25 years ago!” Although some jokes get the laugh, much of the humor adheres to the principle of the lowest common denominator. What is the least effort that can be put into the jokes to get a laugh out of the audience — particularly those around when the movie was set?
Y2K works when it leans into its horror aspects
However, the second half allows Y2K to veer into horror-comedy territory, and this is where the film is at its best. The break into the second act is exaggerated and wacky, but its manic energy is unbeatable. The rest of the movie struggles to match this absurdity and ridiculousness and largely fails, except for a few memorable gags.
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Many of the film’s issues could be written off as Mooney parodying the archetypes of the genre he is referencing, but he adheres to them so rigidly that it almost becomes the type of thing it is making fun of. In many ways, the movie works better as a series of isolated scenes than as a cohesive story.
Jaeden Martell and Rachel Zegler are fine in their leading roles. They both have a good deal of charm and can capture the personality and dynamic of leads from the type of coming-of-age comedy the film is indebted to. However, the supporting cast is far better. Julian Dennison is astounding, with a turn that is both funny and inhumanly charismatic. Others in the supporting cast, including Eduardo Franco, Mason Gooding, Alicia Silverstone, and Mooney himself, are all funny but somewhat underused.
The visual effects in Y2K don’t have the same scale or quality as those in major studio productions, but considering its primarily retro nature, this visual approach is mostly effective. Some of the production design — especially in the second half — is creatively inspired enough to elicit a laugh in and of itself.
Y2K starts off very shaky, but after it completes all of its setup, it becomes a mostly fun ride. Those who allow themselves to be blinded by nostalgia may enjoy the movie in its entirety more, but at the minimum, there are some riotous bits to be found in the film’s back half.
Y2K screened at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival, which runs March 8-16 in Austin, TX.
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Rating: 6/10
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